Daily Archives: August 17, 2012

With a week to go before the Baker County Commission considers approval of two sand mining proposals, ongoing reviews of the mining plans by regulators and a consultant commissioned by the county and paid for by the mining companies both appear far from finished.

The commission delayed voting on the mining projects last June and some board members have said they want to gather as much information as possible before making a final decision.

Nonetheless, commissioners remain set to consider on August 20 two zoning exceptions sought by the mining companies, County Manager C.J. Thompson confirmed early this week.

If approved, the zoning exceptions would allow mining to occur on property zoned agriculture, which generally prohibits the activity.

The county’s land development regulations require that the mining companies — Old Castle Southern Group of Tampa and E.R. Jahna, Inc. of Lake Wales, FL — also obtain permits from regulatory agencies before beginning operations.

Old Castle Southern was the first to apply for a 20-year Consumptive Use Permit from the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) to withdraw about 2 million gallons per day from the lower Floridan Aquifer during the first five years of mining and about 100,000 gallons per day for the next 15 years.

A month after Macclenny city commissioners unanimously approved a proposed ban on the use of people carrying advertising signs, they reversed themselves this week and said such advertising should be permitted.

The reversal came during a city commission meeting the evening of August 14 when about a dozen people attended the meeting presumably to object to the proposed ban. They all left immediately after commissioners said they had changed their minds.

Commissioners agreed that in today’s harsh economic climate businesses need all the help they can get to attract customers. If that takes hiring someone to walk on the sidewalk carrying a sign advertising a particular business, then so be it.

Leading off was Commissioner Tommy Johns, who said he had read an article in The Baker County Press last month in which a Baker County High School student who carries a sign for a business downtown was quoted as saying she needed the job and had found it difficult finding one at her age.

“I was impressed,” Commissioner Johns said. “The young lady said she wanted to work and she could not find a job (until she was hired as a sign bearer for Pawnderosa).”

Football returns to Memorial Stadium this week with spring scrimmages and the Powder Puff game, all on May 18.

Though this Friday’s Wildcats scrimmage isn’t an official spring football game, it holds a lot of the significance for the coaching staff. With the spring game versus Trinity Catholic coming up on May 24, the scrimmage will be a chance for Coach Ryan Sulkowski to finalize his depth chart.

“There are still a few positions where a starter has not been named and we are using the rest of this week to evaluate those positions,” said Sulkowski.

The scrimmage will be used as a “measuring stick” to determine who will be in the starting line up against Trinity Catholic.

“Next week will be treated as a ‘game week’ in which only our returning players will practice and put in the offensive and defensive game plans,” he said.

In addition to the Wildcat scrimmage at 7 pm, middle school Bobcats fans will get an opportunity at 5 pm to see who will be on the field in the fall.

Ester Mae “Maw Maw” Yonn, 70, died Monday, February 13, 2012. She was born August 24, 1941 in Moniac, GA to the late Enoch and Ruby Raulerson Burnsed. Maw Maw worked as a supervisor at Stone Container Bag Plant in Yulee and was a member of Moniac Baptist Church. She was predeceased by her husband of 44 years Brownie; children Walter Yonn and Ann Mullen.